The generals of the Huai Army in Tainan Prefecture gathered together, and all the grizzled and calm heads did not say a word, and they did not have the heroic posture before the Huaxing Army's attack.Li Hongzhang sat alone in the handsome seat, sipping tea with a gloomy face, and even Zhou Fu, who had not participated in the deliberations for a long time, was invited to discuss military affairs."
When we retreated from Fuzhou, we came across the ocean to this wild place.From more than 30,000 soldiers and horses in the Shengzi Army and the Inscription Army at the beginning, it has developed to as many as 130,000 later, which has tripled.The old man's original intention was to take you to the Kanto region, find the Kwantung Army under the command of Zhang Zhidong to make peace, and jointly garrison the Qing Dynasty in the northeast Longxing land.The land there is abundant, and it is many times larger than Taiwan, and it is enough to raise an army to confront the Huaxing army.However, the current imperial court does not trust the Han people and concentrates all the military and political power in its own hands.Zhang Zhidong, the governor of the three eastern provinces, made great contributions to the Qing court's creation of the Kwantung Army, but now under the influence of Qi Junzao, he was relegated to a vain Wenyuange scholar in charge of the compilation of historical books.Our idea of garrisoning the Kanto region was also rejected by the Queen Mother, and now it has really become a lonely battle, with chasing soldiers in front and no way to retreat.I, Li Hongzhang, am old, and I don't want to change my door and live a lifetime.Today, while everyone is here, the old man will greet you loudly in advance.If you want to find another way, you can leave now, and I, Li Hongzhang, have no complaints.But if you stay here, then you will be loyal to the Qing Dynasty with the old man.It's good to leave a name in history, so that you won't end up with the order of a second minister" Li Hongzhang put down the tea bowl and looked at the generals and sighed.After expressing his attitude, he did not want to be embarrassed by the old brothers who had followed him for many years, and left the decision to them."
Dashuai, I, Liu Mazi, have come with you all the way.I have never considered how the Qing court treated me.But Da Shuai is more kind to me than the mountain, Da Shuai decided to sacrifice his life for righteousness, and I Liu Mazi followed Da Shuai to die together" Liu Mingchuan was the first to get up and clasp his fists and shouted, since the establishment of the inscription camp, he has long put life and death aside."
Dashuai, the six brothers of my Zhou family were all promoted by you to get to where they are today.Whatever you want to do, our brothers will follow you. ”Zhou Shengbo looked at the other brothers and nodded, and also stood up and clenched his fists to Li Hongzhang."
Good, good, good, the old man didn't misunderstand you.Although the monarch is not a thousand, but in the end, he should do his duty as a courtier, which is the right way to be loyal to the monarch and patriotism and leave a name in history.How many soldiers and horses do you still have in your hands?"
Li Hongzhang's face showed a wry smile of relief, and he mustered up his spirit and straightened his chest.Until the last moment, there is never a habit of giving up."
Our inscription army fought in Kaohsiung Port and suffered more than 10,000 casualties.Now all the soldiers and horses stationed in Pingtung have been withdrawn, and there are still more than 20,000 soldiers and horses. ”Liu Mingchuan was ashamed, all the 10,000 people were killed alive, and they didn't even see the face of the infantry of the Huaxing Army."
The Sheng Zi Army is not much better, and there are thousands of casualties.The artillery fire of the Huaxing Army's battleships was too strong, and if I defended the coast, I would only increase some casualties, so I brought all my troops back. ”Zhou Shengbo also reported with an embarrassed face, he already had a countermeasure in his heart, so he took the initiative to withdraw his troops and preserve his strength.Li Hongzhang heard what the two of them meant, and then asked, "You must have already thought of countermeasures, let's talk about it, how to defend against the siege of the Huaxing Army next" "Marshal, the last general only has four words, retreat as advance" Liu Mingchuan and Zhou Shengbo looked at each other, and simply said what they thought in their hearts."
What do you mean by Zhou Shengbo's words" Li Hongzhang nodded and moved his gaze to Zhou Shengbo."
I agree with Brother Liu's opinion, there is too much difference between our navy and the Huaxing army, and defending the coast can only be a dead end.But now the army is also equipped with breech-loading foreign guns, and its combat effectiveness is not weaker than that of the Huaxing army.We must move the front to the mountains to the east and extend the strategic depth.In this way, the combat radius of the Huaxing Army has increased, and their policy has always been to make no mistakes in the autumn, so there will inevitably be problems in logistics and supply.We can take the opportunity to find an opportunity to fight and attack the weak point of the Huaxing army" Zhou Shengbo agreed with Liu Mingchuan's meaning, and also wanted to raise troops to retreat to the Ali Mountains to the east.Taiwan's topography is plain to the west and mountainous to the east.The Tainan Prefecture run by Li Hongzhang is mainly concentrated in the Chiayi Plain and Pingtung Plain in western Taiwan.At present, Taiwan's economy is still mainly in the era of agriculture, there is no large-scale development of industry, and there are camphor trees in the mountains, only Taiwan has a large number of camphor trees in the world, and 70 percent of the camphor in later generations is produced in Taiwan and fruit trade.Therefore, the entire agricultural economy has strict requirements for the terrain, and only by cultivating on the plains can so many soldiers and horses be fed."
Good, good, we're all on the same page.When he first came to Taiwan, the old man discussed this issue with Brother Yushan, and built a large number of military forts in the Alishan and Yushan mountain ranges, storing enough military rations.Now we still have nearly 100,000 soldiers and horses in our hands, and it is not certain who will win and who will lose.Huaxingjun is a fierce tiger, if he wants to gnaw down Taiwan, the old man will also pull off its teeth" Li Hongzhang seemed to return to the light, and he was full of spirit and determination to fight with the generals to the end."
Everything is up to the commander's orders" The generals' tense faces also stretched slightly, at least now they will not fight hard with Huaxingjun.After the meeting, only Zhou Fu remained in the military tent.The other generals all left their tents and returned to their respective camps to do the ideological work of the soldiers.Li Hongzhang asked his soldiers to guard the gate, and no one was allowed to enter, so he took out a letter from his arms and handed it to Zhou Fu."
Brother Yushan, this is Qiao Zhiqing's letter of persuasion to the old man, and he put it at the head of the old man's bed inexplicably when he got up in the morning.It has the signatures of all the old generals of the Huai Army who returned to the Huaxing Army, and all of them hope that the old man will surrender and resolve the Taiwan issue peacefully.Qiao Zhiqing promised that if the old man was willing to surrender, he would establish a province in Taiwan, and the old man would serve as the first governor.The old man is very hesitant now, if he continues to fight, is it right or wrong" Li Hongzhang sighed with emotion to Zhou Fu, and he didn't dare to say anything about Qiao Zhiqing's persuasion at the meeting just now.This letter was put on the head of the bed by Li Hongzhang when he woke up in the morning, and it almost scared him out of a cold sweat.In Li Hongzhang's view, Qiao Zhiqing was deliberately demonstrating.just wanted to tell him that Hua Xingjun's tentacles had been by his side very early.Zhou Fu confidently read the letter, and the letter wrote, "Grace and grace, more than three years have passed since Jiangnan parted.At the beginning, thanks to his mentor's refusal to give up, the kid was fortunate to join the Huai Army and achieve a hegemony in later generations.Now the boy's idea of the Great China Federal Republic is about to be realized, and Taiwan, as part of China's inherent territory, does not want it to be separated from the mainland because of differences in beliefs.Therefore, I hope that the teacher can put the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in Taiwan first, stop making senseless resistance, and let Taiwan return to the big family of the Han people again.The kid is willing to canonize his mentor as the first governor of Taiwan Province, and asks him to think about it carefully.Student, Qiao Zhiqing, worship. ”Qiao Zhiqing is really affectionate and righteous, and he considers himself a kid everywhere in the letter, and his pure heart is undoubtedly revealed.Now that he is the lord of a country, he can still have such a mind, and he can't complain that the world is his" Zhou Fu closed the letter and admired Qiao Zhiqing with all his heart.returned the letter to Li Hongzhang, and sighed with emotion."
At the beginning, the old man also saw that he had such a mind, so he has always tolerated his development and growth.The queen mother is afraid that it is because of the old man's tiger breeding that she does not want the old man to return to Kanto to serve the imperial court.Brother Yushan, they all say that the authorities are confused, and the bystanders are clear.Now that you choose to retreat to the world, you should see it more clearly than the old man.You have a conscience, is the old man wrong?"
Although Li Hongzhang was resolute at the meeting, he was entangled in his heart and couldn't make up his mind."
Marshal, I have been by your side since the day the Huai Army was prepared, and I know best who your subordinates are.In fact, for Dashuai, no matter how you choose, it is wrong.The choice of Huaxing Army is the great righteousness of the nation, and the choice of the imperial court is a small personal righteousness.If you let your subordinates say it, it is best for the marshal to focus on the national righteousness.The soldiers of the Huai Army also have families and rooms, and they also have parents, wives and children, if they are all fought out like this, their families will definitely blame Dashuai.When the time comes, the world will be unified, and the history books will be compiled by the victors.They will also certainly blame the marshal for being a sinner who obstructs national unity.Neither the official nor the people will read the good of the big handsome, and where to go, you still have to make a decision. ”Zhou Fu confessed from the bottom of his heart that he also had the heart to serve the court.But later, the court became more and more unfair to the Han people, and Zhou Fu was already extremely disappointed.Only then did he resign from Li Hongzhang and set up a academy in Taiwan, where he began to teach and teach."
Okay, you go down first, and the old man will think about it again."
Li Hongzhang waved his hand to Zhou Fu tiredly, as if he was carrying huge pressure, and he accidentally fell into a situation from which he could not recover.Whoever is in his position will also be cautious, weighing it repeatedly, and if he is not careful, he may harm another 100,000 living beings.Whether his beliefs are important or their lives are important, Li Hongzhang has been hesitating repeatedly.Alishan Mountains, Yushan Mountains.The two largest mountain ranges in central Taiwan divide Taiwan into two completely different terrains, east and west.The battleships Taishan and Huashan, sixty airships on board slowly flew together from the deck.The airships of these two squadrons were going to perform a special mission, preparing to begin carpet bombing of cottages in the Alishan and Yushan mountains.Li Hongzhang built a large number of garrison cottages in the two mountain ranges, although they have been kept in a secret state, but the information was still learned by the Huaxing army.In order to cut off Li Hongzhang's last retreat, Qiao Zhiqing made an explanation in advance.In the third stage, the aviation squadron will take the lead in the main battle and begin to carry out all-round bombing of eastern Taiwan.The nine nine-tailed firefoxes laid by the National Security Agency are now in full swing.Li Hongzhang must not have imagined that this nine-tailed fire fox was his sixth brother Li Zhaoqing
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